11 Aug 2008 - Seealpsee and Ebenalp
I woke up to an awesome view and thanked God I was lucky to have the opportunity to see His mighty works. We headed for the breakfast buffet, half expecting to see crap as the rate was SF60 (about S$80) per person per night in Bergasthause Forelle, which was considered dirt cheap by swiss standard. There was no bathroom ensuite. We had to share a common bathroom with 4 or 5 other rooms on the same floor but the bathroom was very clean and big. Of course, you could also stay overnight in the same inn or other mountain inns at SF35 if you were willing to sleep with 10 other people. Obviously there were people who were willing to do so, judging by the number of inns offering the backpacker rooms. The breakfast was surprising good, with cold meats (the ham was delicious and light), local cheeses, cereal/muesli, yoghurt, OJ, milk, bread, jam and fruits.
Imagine waking up to this every morning. I would be a happy girl.
The mountain inn we stayed in - Bergasthause Forelle, which was located at a beautiful spot, with full view of the alps, in front of a lake and about 10-minute walk to nearby farmhouses that produce cheese.
Some amazing sights we saw during our morning walk. Couldn't believe we took these pictures. They looked like they came out of some postcards.
We chanced upon this chapel behind the mountain inn which was surrounded by forests. It was so tranquil. I would love to take my wedding vows here.
Outside our room. Everything in this inn was made of wood.
The night before, we received bad news from the paragliding instructor that all paragliding sessions were cancelled for the entire week due to forecast of bad weather. Damn!! I missed it in sydney due to bad weather and now I missed it again! A californian couple I met at the inn told me that at least 1 person died from paragliding in america each year, so they prefered to stay grounded. Maybe this was for the better afterall but I would still jump at the chance to paraglide or hangglide if I could.
Thankfully, during our morning walk, we chanced upon a farmhouse that offered whey bath in the open. Erm, with appropriate covering to protect our decencies but with great uncovered sky view.
This was the sign that turned our day around.
Whey is basically leftover water from the cheese-making process. We thought it would smell cheesy but it turned out to be sweet smelling with a hint of milk/cheese scent. The whey water was warm and the tub was very deep. I could feel myself floating in the tub. It cost SF80 for the both of us with complimentary mineral water, some chocolates and a slab of local cheese that tasted really good. And we could soak all day. After an hour and half, we decided we had soaked up all the benefits of the whey and had enough of the sounds of cow bells. When we wanted to bring the mineral water bottle back, the owner, Daniela, offered to give us another bottle as this one was expensive and they could recycle it for some money. She even filled up the bottle with drinkable water from her own house, knowing that the tap water in our inn was not drinkable. It was truly a great experience.
After the whey bath, we decided to treck to the famous back-packer inn, Aescher, which was built into the mountain (the mountain made up part of the inn structure) and had a great restaurant. It took us more than 2 hours to reach there, first by walking down to Wasserauen, then taking a cable car to ebenalp, then walking another 20 min to Aescher via a cave. I was never so glad to see a restaurant. We had our lunch at about 3pm but there were still alot of people there, which was a good sign.
Happy to have found the restaurant at last.
The view from the restaurant was spectacular. No wonder people stayed here long after their lunch.
Some of the scenery along our trecking route. Although the trecking/hiking was not easy, it was an enjoyable one. We stopped frequently to rest and drink in the sights around us.
In the evening, we were craving for instant noodles after more than 1 week of swiss food. We brought along some beef instant noodles that my hubby bought from shanghai and started cooking with the portable cooker and mineral water (the tap water was not drinkable). I tell you, it was the best instant noodle meal we ever had. We also ate some cheese and red wine. It was raining and cold outside. Sitting at the window in the chilly evening slurping up some hot noodles while looking at the alps and lake. What joy! After the noodle meal, we headed for the inn restaurant for some desserts as we saw many people ordered yummy-looking ice-cream. They were delicious! Then we borrowed some cards from the waitress and started playing jim-rummy until we felt tired and headed back to bed. It was a fulfilling day, filled with new and exciting experiences that would last us for a long time.
Mr Sim slurping up delicious hot beef noodles. We actually ended up snatching the bowl from each other ;p
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